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it is my pleasure to introduce you to philippe halsman, a latvian born photographer who started his career in paris in the early 1930’s, before emigrating to new york in the 40s.

halsman holds an unsurpassed 101 LIFE magazine covers to his credit (!), but the reason i am instantly enamored is that after the formal portrait sessions were over, he would ask his subjects to jump. yes, JUMP.

and who else do we know that loves a good jumping photo? ahh yes. me. we are obviously kindred spirits. (halsman died the year i was born.) coincidence? i think not.

as you can imagine, the results were incredible and quirky – capturing famous personalities in a moment of spontaneity and fun. some of his captures include audrey hepburn, richard nixon, marilyn monroe, brigitte bardot, salvador dali…just to name a few.

thank you to my lovely (and talented) friend robyn for thinking of me when she saw the info about the exhibition.

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last weekend, devon and i got to witness the magical wedding of our friends, may and jordan. they are two beautiful peas of a pod. two fun-loving perfectly fitting puzzle pieces. one lovely ying, to one lovely yang.

anyway. they had a photobooth. and we all know that means only one thing: it’s party time.

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sometimes living in LA feels like you’ve walked into a sitcom. conversations are smart and snappy. everyone’s dressed well. hair too perfectly messy. teeth too white. and there is this i’m-a-star-in-waiting sparkle in people’s eyes. the other day we went to the movies, and i’m not lying when i tell you that the guy who was working at the theater, and telling us to silence our phones and buy overpriced popcorn was more entertaining than the movie itself.

i’m obviously a newbie. i smile at people all the time. i make eye contact and strike up conversation. the other day a girl at a stuffy boutique who looked despairingly at my mostly goodwill store thrown together ensemble, started pouring her heart out to me as i was getting changed. i’m not sure why she suddenly let her guard down. maybe it was because i complimented her dress. or because i refused to meet her attitude of haughtiness. but it was a bit awkward. her talking about her ex and her heartbreak and me trying to do up a stubborn zipper. but regardless, we bonded, mystery boutique girl and i. and i realized, hey, LA ain’t so bad.

this morning i got a message from andy telling me that the fact that facebook lists my current home as nashville concerns him. so i made it official (after first trying to get facebook to accept NashAngeles as a legitimate city). and as i made the switch it struck me that i’m here. this city of angels. this city which makes you feel like you can literally do anything you want to do. it’s almost bewildering to be a resident of a place where the ‘rules’ don’t apply. you wanna wear a faux fur leopard suit and tap dance your way to trader joes? go for it. no one will care. the assumption is you’re an artist and this city loves its creatives. so go on with your bad cat self. make us proud.

which also makes me feel like i’m not doing enough. there is something amazing happening every single night. and i don’t have the stamina to be a part of all of it. but we are pressing forward. plans are being made. the potential of soulpancake is expanding before our eyes and we are on the cusp of some amazing opportunities.

i’m grateful that amidst all this dev and i are creating our habitat. our ‘us-ness’ in a place where it’s all too easy to lose yourself. we are fashioning our own world. and so whether you drop us in or new york, hendersonville, tonga, or LA, we are a unit. a unit that checks each other and gives each other stable ground and reminds each other that no matter where on the map we land, we will be just fine.

in other news, this weekend we are going to the wedding of the lovely may shelley and her beau jordan samari. and afterwards we will be hitting up the santa cruz broadwalk for lots of this:

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1. faces
it’s a no-brainer why this one stole my heart immediately. swiss designer Jean Robert finds a ‘face’ in a padlock 20 years ago and then goes on a quest with his little brother Francois to take photos of more objects that have faces. 130 of them to be precise. such a simple and lovely idea and so well executed. five stars to the creative geniuses. and five stars to shabs for knowing that this book must have been lovingly created with weirdos like me in mind.

2. handmade nation
an entire book filled to the brim with crafty people showcasing their craftiness. there is no type of person i love more than those who create opportunities to express their creativity. i know that i probably shouldn’t have favorite ‘types’ of people. i know that the diversity of types of people we have in the world is important and keeps the world spinning. blah blah blah. but i’ll be honest, the people i’m most drawn to are those who embrace their creativity. so sue me.
side note: when a friend not only gifts you an inspiring book that makes you want to start 17 creative projects at once but ALSO a camera obscura kit for your birthday, you know that friend is soul mate. i love you ashley ludwin.

3. committed
so elizabeth gilbert, of Eat, Pray, Love fame, penned a sequel to her bestseller and calls it ‘Committed’ – with the subhead: a skeptic makes peace with marriage. i’d read Eat, Pray, Love while I was in the throws of a 7 year relationship ending and gilbert’s re-telling of her journey ‘spoke’ to me. lo and behold, Eat, Pray, Love became a bestseller a few months later and, surprise surprise, there were others who also felt the book ‘spoke’ to them. and i guess this is a pretty telling indicator of the world we live in. a world where broken relationships and broken people are dime a dozen and we’re all flailing about wondering if we perhaps need to trek to india and find a spiritual guru to set us straight.

in Committed gilbert explores, untangles and rallies with her conflicted feelings about the institution of marriage because getting married to her brazilian lover is the only way he can stay in the states a la green card. as they roam around the globe together waiting for the paperwork to go through and to finalize visas etc, gilbert embarks on her research of wedlock–the union that she had zero interest in entering in again.

halfway through the book i texted every friend who is considering marriage, considering never marrying, scared about their own marriage, or deliriously happy with their choice either way, and told them to read this book. and please keep in mind, i don’t usually do this. i’m not a ‘recommend-er’. if i see a movie and love it, i’ll tell you (if you ask) how i felt about it, but i’m not going to barrage you with my review and pester you to see it. the risk of let down is too great. but this book was different. and not because it’s the most profound thing i’ve ever read (because it’s not). or because elizabeth gilbert is my favorite author (because she’s not). but because i finally felt like someone was putting into words things that i (and i believe many others) have felt and rarely had the opportunity to explore openly. gilbert talks about the contradictions of marriage. she discusses her concerns frankly. and they are valid concerns. concerns i shared at one point. she explores how the institution of marriage came into existence and how it has played out in our society. she addresses her own issues with conformity in a refreshing and real way. she is part cynic, part optimist, part explorer, part adventurer and part terrified of making the wrong decision.

now i feel like i’ve built it up too much and you’re going to pelt me with your amazon receipts when you buy the book and it doesn’t change your life. so for now, go borrow a copy and read it with low expectations. and blame andy grammer if it doesn’t do anything for you, since he was the one who talked it up and then gave it to me.

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1. people with macs pour over a scripts in the bowels of every coffee shop i walk into.
2. agave is an available sweetener option.
3. the weather is always perfect.
4. the traffic is always horrendous. (which is why we use our vespa to zip around and in between the crawling cars)
5. men rock jorts (knee-length jean shorts)
6. making ridiculous modifications to your food order is not just tolerated, but expected.
7. extremely white teeth.
8. i keep seeing people i think i know, and then realizing tv = not real life.
9. incredible sunsets. the only benefit of smog.